Chapter 6
“It was really nice of you to come, Gale,” Robin said, sitting upright in her bed. Her skin was still covered in light bandages, and seeing her without any makeup and with the flattest hair in the universe was like seeing an unphotoshopped photo of a supermodel. Nala pretended she recognized her friend upon entering the room carrying a small bouquet of get well flowers and – most importantly – a chocolate bar.
“I would’ve come earlier, but I had to go out of town for a while.” That was all Nala said as she sat on a stool next to the bed. Across from her, she saw the permanent indent Lucian had left from all his time sleeping by Robin’s side. That’s sweet. He must really love her. Nala didn’t know why that surprised her. Apparently she assumed that all the relationships in The Aviary were as fake as her and Vincent’s had been. But if we fell in love, then they must be too. The only couple she wasn’t sure about was Maggie and Jay, but there was a lot she wasn’t sure about there.
“It’s okay. I’m glad you came at all.” Until now, Robin had put on a brave face that said she wasn’t hurt or scared. She had been in the hospital a while. Wasn’t she well enough to go home yet? Or was Lucian’s money able to keep her here until she was emotionally ready as well? She must feel safe here. “Not many people have visited me, besides Lucian, of course.” Robin looked away, biting her lip. “Nobody from The Aviary has come. Not until you, anyway.”
Nala sighed. “Maybe they didn’t want to find out your real name,” she teased. “You know that’s supposed to stay hush-hush.”
“I like my name, though!” Robin’s face lit back up, much to Nala’s relief. “It’s your name nobody knows, honestly. Well, yours and Maggie’s. I could easily tell you Quail and Starling’s real names.”
“I thought you weren’t supposed to…”
“No, but we’re not at a meeting, now are we?”
Nala shrugged.
“I’ll tell you Quail’s real name. It’s Sylvia. She came out here as an escort, if you can believe it.”
Nala believed anything and everything these days. A woman in The Aviary being an escort? Super easy to believe. Nala was practically one for a few weeks. And my sugar daddy boyfriend is still paying me. Would Vincent keep gifting her a thousand dollars a week until they died? Maybe. Hopefully. Nala would not say no.
“Her and Sebastian are still a pretty new couple. I don’t know much about Quail’s past, but I know that she and Sebastian aren’t as serious as they look. They live together, but I’m not sure how serious it is. I think it’s a business deal, if you ask me.”
Nala hadn’t, but that was okay. “But you and Lucian are totally a real thing, right?”
“Oh, yes! He comes here every day. He’s cried so much… I never saw him cry hardly in my life until I ended up in here. You know how those types of men are. They don’t want to cry, either because they think it’s unmanly or… I dunno. It’s not healthy, if you ask me. People are supposed to cry to keep the stress out of their bodies. Does Vincent cry?”
So rarely did she ever call him by his first name. “I’ve never seen him cry, no.”
“Oh. Sounds like Lucian. Well, as I said, I’ve been seeing him cry a lot lately. Made me realize how much I mean to him. I mean… I always knew he loved me, but I could see how scared he was to lose me! It scared me a little too. I’ve never meant that much to somebody before. I’m not even sure my mother would cry that much to lose me. I think it might really be forever with Lucian, if I ever get out of here.”
“When will that be?”
Robin sucked her face inward, as if she tasted something unbearably sour. “I don’t know,’ she said carefully. “The doctors say that, despite my injuries, I’m doing well. I could probably go home in a few days if I wanted.”
“If you wanted?”
“I don’t know if I actually will.”
“I see.” Nala didn’t press that issue. Clearly, Robin was scared. Lucian was probably even more afraid, especially if he knew the source of his girlfriend’s pain. What did he do to piss Crow off? Vincent was right. They picked Robin not only because she was Nala’s friend, but because they wanted to get to Lucian as well. A double-whammy. “Do you remember what happened?”
She treaded dangerous waters here, and Nala knew it. If Robin wasn’t being forthcoming with what she knew about her own attack, then she probably didn’t want to share. If she even knew…
Robin set her face into a grim look. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told the police every time they were in here. I don’t remember anything. One minute I was walking in my neighborhood, and the next thing I knew, I was in here with Lucian crying beside me. What happened in between? I couldn’t tell you. I don’t remember any event, and I definitely don’t remember any people.”
The way she said it betrayed her lies. The police probably thought the same thing, if they came in multiple times trying to get something out of her. She knows who it was. She’s too scared to mention it. Nala didn’t blame her, but having Hawk’s involvement confirmed would mean so, so much in the world of getting to the bottom of this.
“Well, I hope that you can get out of here sooner rather than later,” Nala said. “It’s awful seeing you like this. I really mean that.”
Robin smiled. “Thanks so much, Nala. I mean…”
Nala sat up straight in her seat. “So you know who I am…”
“Yes. Lucian told me a while ago. He said that you had a pretty name and that Vincent was lucky to have you.”
“Did he, now?”
“I hope you’re not angry, Nala. I assumed that you knew my name anyway. It’s hard to keep a person’s identity a secret in this day and age.”
“Do you know my last name?”
Robin squinted. “I remember something Russian. I’m sorry, I’m terrible with foreign words and names.”
“I’m sorry you found out too much,” Nala said, standing up and zipping up her jacket. “I’m sorry that he decided to make an example out of you.”
“Nala…”
“No, don’t say anything. It’s best that way.” Nala nodded to one bandage on Robin’s hand. “It’s best that you don’t find out more about me. Or Vincent. Make sure you tell Lucian that the next time you see him.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Then understand this. Vincent and I are involved with something very, very dangerous. If you knew anything about our histories, then you would know that… well, I won’t get too much into it. I’m sorry you got caught up in this, but it’s important that you try to avoid The Aviary as much as possible until things blow over. You’re not safe there. None of us really are.”
Robin still made that sour face. “I know. We haven’t been safe since the day it began.”
Nala didn’t know what that meant, but she would leave Robin to it. After a curt but polite farewell, she stepped out of the hospital room and took a meandering path down to the sidewalk, where she hailed a cab to take her back to Vincent’s loft. I should have brought the bodyguard, I guess. Vincent was adamant that Nala never leave by herself. Yet how was she to trust a hired hand? For all she knew, they were really in Crow’s pocket. Right now, Nala assumed that everyone was in Crow’s pocket. Except for her and Vincent. She kept reminding herself that as the cab went down the road into downtown.
Vincent was home, although he was not locked at this work station like he had been when Nala left a few hours ago. Instead, she walked into the loft to find her boyfriend in a far, empty corner, shirtless and beating the shit out of his punching bag. Every wumpf! echoed in the loft, sounding like the largest scuffle of the century going down in one abandoned warehouse. This isn’t abandoned, though. This is our home. Nala dropped her things by the living room couch before wandering over to Vincent, still punching his bag as if he never noticed Nala walking through the door.
He was gorgeous, with copious amounts of sweat streaming down his skin and even getting on the bruised and battered red punching bag. Enough sunlight came through the upper windows that Nala could see every streak of pink flushing Vincent’s skin as he worked out until he couldn’t anymore. A man should not be this good looking. The idea that he was hers for the taking whenever she wanted… that seemed ludicrous. Was it even possible for him to think the same way about her? That she was so crazy beautiful that he often stopped to stare at her in wonder? Because that’s what I am doing to him right now. Nala felt better for the first time in days. Not just because Vincent was there – and the sexiest man on the earth – but because looking at him, at his strength and his ability to do such things, made her feel safe. Right now, especially after seeing Robin in the hospital like that? Nala valued safety above all else.
“You gonna keep punching that thing and ignoring me?”
Vincent gave the bag one more hard smack before stilling his equipment and looking at her, hard of breath. “How was your visit?” It was almost cute how easily he spoke after that much exertion.
“Interesting. Robin claims to not know anything about her attack, which is of course bullshit. Also, she knows my name.”
Vincent stripped his hands of their protective gear and tossed them to the side. Finished, are we? Was there enough testosterone in his system to take her for a spin in the shower? They had yet to have any fun in there… and they had yet to have any real fun at all in a good while. Get some of this before my period arrives. Nala coyly stripped her sweatshirt off, but Vincent appeared too engrossed in his routine to pay her any mind.
“That’s not surprising,” he said. “Both of those things.” Sweat trickled down his back when he bent down away from Nala and fiddled with his shoes. “She must know that it was not a random attack, and the person who attacked her has a lot over her head. Even if the police came for her, she wouldn’t give it up if it meant keeping her and Lucian alive. She must know what happened to those two old members.”
“Speaking of, did you find out anything?”
Vincent grunted in neither affirmation nor denial. “I thought I made headway earlier. Managed to break through some bit of security finally. Then I hit another dead end. Didn’t lead to where I thought it would, in other words. The security I broke through led me to personnel files, but not the fun kind. His butlers and landscapers and shit.” Vincent sighed as he switched feet. “You’ll be impressed to know that I now know who has requested two weeks’ worth of vacation later this year so they can go on a honeymoon in Thailand. Also, someone named Albert hasn’t taken a sick day in fifteen years. They gave him a raise for it.”
Nala sighed right alongside him. “So now what?”
“So now I find something else to break into.”
“Are you going to keep doing this until you get what I want?”
Vincent snatched her arm and brought her near him. Hello there, body odor. Nala reveled in it, running her hands along his sticky skin, feeling the sheer power of his muscles and the overall spoils of his intense workouts. For all the easy breathing he did in front of her, the man puffed a little beneath her hands. Good to know he’s still human.
“I always get what I want. Eventually.”
Nala purred against his chest. “Just don’t get us in even more trouble.”
Vincent put both arms around her, practically inhaling her throat as he kissed her there. “Trouble is my middle name, madam. Shall I show you?”
She liked post-workout Vincent. He was virile as hell and fresh from having his mind cleared of all the toxic shit. “Is trouble in your cock? ‘Cause I think he’s already trying to make a point to me.” Nala slid her hand between them, feeling what hardness he already had.
Before they could kiss, however, his phone buzzed a few feet away.
“Some mail came, Mr. Lane,” said the man in charge of the patrolling security. “We checked it. It’s clean.”
Groaning, Vincent pulled away from Nala and went to the door. There was a man standing on the other side, handing over a small stack of envelopes. “Thanks,” Vincent muttered, shutting the door in the man’s face.
Nala was on the couch by the time he rejoined her. She heard him further mutter about bills, junk mail, and…
“Great,” he said with a bite to his voice. “The fucking Aviary is calling again.”
Nala curled up on the couch as if it could shield her from Xavier Crow. “Tell him we’re still not buying what he’s peddling. Even if you’re making shit up again.”
Paper rustled behind her. She could practically feel Vincent reading over whatever invitation Crow had sent this week.
“This isn’t a regular invitation. He says that in lieu of a regular meeting this week, they will be promoting swinging meetings.”
“Joy. Please tell me we’ve been paired with Lucian and Robin so we don’t actually have to do anything.” She knew that wouldn’t be the case. Swinging only worked if there were an even number of couples.
“Sorry, darling. We’ve been requested by a different couple.” The invitation landed in her lap. “Your new best friend wants to ride my dick.”
“My new best…” Nala held up the invitation in front of her. Maggie and Jay’s names loomed before her eyes. “Fucking hell.”
“I know I’m not turning them down.” When Nala shot him a dangerous look, Vincent explained, “Not because I want to sleep with Maggie, okay?”
“Uh huh.”
“Because there’s a lot we can ask them. There’s a reason they chose us, Nala. I’m guessing they want to finally talk about what’s going on. Maybe we’ll find out who they are.”
“I’m not holding my breath. They’re more likely to kill us, I think.”
“You’re cynical.”
“You’re not?”
Vincent pointed to something else on the invitation. “Two days from now. You ready to go pretend to be hot for Jay’s dick?”
“Shut up.” Nala snatched his chin and held him place. No way you’re getting away from me right now, buster. “I am not going to have sex with him. And you are not going to have sex with her. Got it?”
“Let’s see how the night unfolds.”
The way he backed away from the couch implied that he was giving his girlfriend a hard time. Nevertheless, Nala leaped up from the couch and nearly chased Vincent down to the bathroom, where he was halfway to locking the door in her face. “Don’t you dare!” she cried. “You’re all mine, Vincent Lane! Do you hear? Your dick only goes in me!”
“Why, Miss Nazarov,” he said, peering at her through a crack in the bathroom door. “You’re feisty when you’re jealous.”
He latched the door in her face. In another minute, the shower turned on, and Nala had a whole slew of crap to whine about.